After several years developing the concepts, the owner of vegan restaurant and cocktail destinations Bar Kindred and Mothership has finally broken ground on two incoming plant-based restaurants, which will open in the center of University Heights later this year.
Kory Stetina partnered with Consortium Holding's founder Arsalun Tafazoli in 2015 to open Bar Kindred, a death-metal themed vegan restaurant and cocktail bar destination in San Diego's South Park neighborhood. In summer 2022, the duo unveiled a tropical space-themed, plant-based bar & restaurant named Mothership in the space that previously housed Del Sur Mexican Cantina, also in South Park. Inspired as an offshoot of Kindred's weekly "Permanent Vacation" pop-up, Mothership offers a retro tiki-meets-outer space design with a list of ever-changing wild cocktails and unique plant-based food offerings.
In 2021, Stetina took over the 4,500 square-foot building last occupied by a community office space on Park Boulevard directly under the University Heights sign for the opening of two new restaurant concepts. The team recently began construction and revealed more about the incoming eateries, which will be designed by NY-based Home Studios.
Inspired by American mid-century continental fine dining, Vulture restaurant and bar will be a "resurrected institution of yesteryear, reimagined through the eclectic possibility of today." Expect elegant, inventive plant-based dishes that will "honor the sophistication of the past and reveal the daring potential of the present," as well as classic cocktails reimagined.
"Need a mental picture?," explained Kindred ownership. "Think of dim-lit table lamps in a quiet, dark dining room, with a small bar. Think of Champagne. Think of Martinis. Think of the classic dishes with two names ending with 'Thermidor', 'Rockefeller', 'Diane', and 'Jubilee.' All of this will be presented in the unique and surreal way in which we tend to do things."
"Need a mental picture?," explained Kindred ownership. "Think of dim-lit table lamps in a quiet, dark dining room, with a small bar. Think of Champagne. Think of Martinis. Think of the classic dishes with two names ending with 'Thermidor', 'Rockefeller', 'Diane', and 'Jubilee.' All of this will be presented in the unique and surreal way in which we tend to do things."
In addition to Vulture, the building's storefront space will be a casual, 10-seat micro-diner called Dreamboat. The eatery will offer takeout options, as well as a menu of coffee, pastries and a few breakfast staples during the morning hours. In the afternoon, offerings will flip to burgers, shakes, and sandwiches, with desserts like rum cake and ice cream sundaes becoming the focus during evening hours. Both concepts will receive a modern redesign and open with a completely vegan menu from Kindred's longtime chef Dylan Craver.
Vulture and Dreamboat are anticipated to open in late summer to early fall at 4608 Park Boulevard in San Diego's University Heights. For more information, visit vulturerestaurant.com and dreamboatdiner.com.
Vulture and Dreamboat are anticipated to open in late summer to early fall at 4608 Park Boulevard in San Diego's University Heights. For more information, visit vulturerestaurant.com and dreamboatdiner.com.
